Chicago Fire Scouting Report

Chicago (9-7-4, 31 pts.) enters Saturday’s match looking to bounce back from a pair of 1-0 losses at the New York Red Bulls and at home in a friendly against English Premier League Side Aston Villa. Despite a strong performance by young goalkeeper Sean Johnson, New York found a winner through a spectacular volley from MLS All-Star Thierry Henry. Aston Villa blanked the Fire again three days later, although Chicago played a mixture of starters and reserves throughout the match. Ghanian forward Dominic Oduro and Guatemalan winger Marco Pappa lead the Fire with five goals. Sebastian Grazzini commands the Fire midfield and has contributed five assists on the year. Johnson, 23, is in the net for Chicago (54 saves, 1.14 GAA).

Of Note

- The Earthquakes (13-5-4, 43 pts.) retained their spot atop the Western Conference and Supporters’ Shield standings despite dropping a 2-1 match to Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Sunday. San Jose is four points clear of Real Salt Lake (12-7-3, 39 pts.) for the Western Conference lead.

- Quakes forward Alan Gordon continued his torrid form of late with the Quakes lone goal in a 2-1 loss to Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Sunday at BC Place. Gordon scored for the third straight game, his second three-game goal scoring streak of the season, on Sunday.

- Quakes all-star defenders Steve Beitashour and Justin Morrow have now appeared in all 22 games for San Jose this season, following their 90-minute performances against Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Sunday. They are both tied for the league lead in games played, while Morrow leads MLS with 1,980 minutes played. Beitashour ranks third in minutes played at 1,965.

- The San Jose Earthquakes have now scored 44 goals in 2012 to lead MLS. The team has scored more goals this year than any season since returning to MLS in 2008. The all-time team record for goals scored in a season is 55, set in 1997.

- Chris Wondolowski is seven goals away from matching Ronald Cerritos’ club record for career goals scored. Cerritos scored 61 goals in 148 games over six seasons in San Jose. Meanwhile, Wondolowski has 54 goals in 92 games over five seasons for the Earthquakes.

Earthquakes – FC Dallas Connections

- Quakes goalkeeper Jon Busch played with the Fire from 2007-09, where he won MLS Goalkeeper of the Year in 2008.

- Jason Hernandez made his MLS debut on Oct. 5, 2005, playing for New York against the Fire at Soldier Field in Chicago.

- Quakes defender Ike Opara and midfielder Sam Cronin played with Fire midfielder Corben Bone at Wake Forest, where they won a national championship together.

- Opara and Chicago goalie Sean Johnson both played for the United States Under-23 team during CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying in March.

- San Jose defender Victor Bernardez and Honduras played to a scoreless draw against Chicago midfielder Marco Pappa and Guatemala in the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

- San Jose midfielder Brad Ring grew up in the Chicago area and played his youth and high school soccer there … Quakes defender Jed Zayner played for Chicago’s PDL team, the Chicago Fire Premier, from 2003-2005.